Greedy Millennium
Posted: 09 Jul 2007, 09:03
BOXING promoter allegedly accused Millennium Stadium chiefs of greed in a row over Welsh boxing hero Joe Calzaghe’s bout against Mikkel Kessler.
BOXING promoter allegedly accused Millennium Stadium chiefs of greed in a row over Welsh boxing hero Joe Calzaghe’s bout against Mikkel Kessler.
The fight will probably take place on November 3 but the venue is in doubt as Warren claimed the Millennium Stadium was too expensive.
Warren said: “Kessler has agreed to come over here, so we’re looking to promote the fight in the UK.
“At the moment we’re negotiating with the Millennium Stadium, but they’re asking for a bit more money than we want to pay.
“Of course we don’t expect the Millennium to do it for nothing, but they make a lot of money from the concessions, the bar and so forth.
“What they want is like asking a pop band playing there for a percentage of their record sales.
“It’s greed, that’s what it is. It’s not a cheap venue to hire, it’s very expensive – it comes to hundreds of thousands of pounds to put these events on.”
Calzaghe, 35, attracted a European indoor record crowd of 35,000 for his 20th defence of the WBO super middleweight title against Peter Manfredo Jr at the Millennium Stadium in April.
Kessler, 28, like Calzaghe unbeaten in his professional career, holds the WBA and WBC versions of the super middleweight title and is a dangerous opponent.
Welsh Rugby Union group chief executive Roger Lewis said Warren was seeking to pay less than the total paid for the Manfredo fight.
“The starting point must be the deal that we had last time, not less,” he said. “We can’t go below that. It’s a fair deal for the fans, it’s a fair deal for Wales.”
Warren said he would prefer to stage the fight in Wales in front of Newbridge man Calzaghe’s home crowd.
He said he was prepared to take the fight elsewhere, although he does admit he needs an enclosed venue because of likely weather conditions in November.
BOXING promoter allegedly accused Millennium Stadium chiefs of greed in a row over Welsh boxing hero Joe Calzaghe’s bout against Mikkel Kessler.
The fight will probably take place on November 3 but the venue is in doubt as Warren claimed the Millennium Stadium was too expensive.
Warren said: “Kessler has agreed to come over here, so we’re looking to promote the fight in the UK.
“At the moment we’re negotiating with the Millennium Stadium, but they’re asking for a bit more money than we want to pay.
“Of course we don’t expect the Millennium to do it for nothing, but they make a lot of money from the concessions, the bar and so forth.
“What they want is like asking a pop band playing there for a percentage of their record sales.
“It’s greed, that’s what it is. It’s not a cheap venue to hire, it’s very expensive – it comes to hundreds of thousands of pounds to put these events on.”
Calzaghe, 35, attracted a European indoor record crowd of 35,000 for his 20th defence of the WBO super middleweight title against Peter Manfredo Jr at the Millennium Stadium in April.
Kessler, 28, like Calzaghe unbeaten in his professional career, holds the WBA and WBC versions of the super middleweight title and is a dangerous opponent.
Welsh Rugby Union group chief executive Roger Lewis said Warren was seeking to pay less than the total paid for the Manfredo fight.
“The starting point must be the deal that we had last time, not less,” he said. “We can’t go below that. It’s a fair deal for the fans, it’s a fair deal for Wales.”
Warren said he would prefer to stage the fight in Wales in front of Newbridge man Calzaghe’s home crowd.
He said he was prepared to take the fight elsewhere, although he does admit he needs an enclosed venue because of likely weather conditions in November.
